Zubin Mehta’s performance of Dvorák’s Eighth Symphony is as fine a version as anyone has recorded. The music literally “plays itself”, effortlessly flowing in an organic, natural fashion from its serene opening melody to a nicely raucous finale’s coda that offers excitement without vulgarity. Mehta’s ability to keep the last movement’s variations moving smartly forward is just one of many felicities that characterize his masterful interpretation. The Los Angeles Philharmonic plays lovingly and is very well recorded too. The “New World” operates on a slightly less exalted level: the first movement has a slight tendency to bog down in the development section, but thereafter everything goes swimmingly, including a vivaciously rhythmic scherzo and a finale that, as in the Eighth Symphony, holds together with remarkable cohesion and sense of purpose. This disc is worth owning for the Eighth Symphony alone; the “New World” is simply the icing on the cake.
